Thanksgiving Fixin's: Meet Me Under the Stars an EAM Outtake
by hisviks
Summary: A Thanksgiving Fixin's Everything and More Outtake: Christmas Northman style. The giant family decides to visit Eric's birth grounds for the holidays. Hijinks ensue. Three parts will be posted daily. E/S - P/N - Post Fangsgiwin' - NOW COMPLETE -
1. Part 1 - Sveeden

**A/N: This is a three part outtake for the Thanksgiving Fixin's Everything and More story (From Chapter 14 onwards under Thanksgiving Fixin's). It's a quick and easy read for those of you that haven't and the Fangsgiwin' outtake will also need to be read before reading this one. Happy Holidays!**

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><p>-Part I - Sveeden<p>

"Sir, ma'am, please!" came the begging voice of the stewardess between knocks on the door.

"We're busy!" she growled out from the cramped bathroom. "Fuck!"

"Ma'am, I have to ask you to return to your seats," the stewardess attempted once more trying desperately to sound stern and authoritarian.

"YES! Now you owe me two FUCKING more!" Pam screamed from her contorted position against the metal sink demanding her equal pay-out of the usual sum of one orgasm per child. It had been the only convincing argument that had allowed Niall access back between her legs after her horrific trauma of childbirth; that and the promise not to secretly impregnate her again. She, however, failed to notice that it was his secret campaign to have her begging for more children, always leaving her slightly wanting in the end. With Sookie and Eric now pregnant, in Niall's opinion they were seriously lagging behind.

"Ma'am, you really need to get back to your seat now," the stewardess pleaded. As time dragged on without an answer, the woman was ready to rip the hair from her own head with the 'difficult' passengers. "The captain has demanded it for the safety of everyone on account of the turbulence."

The door swung open with force as the woman was greeted by a glaringly white set of fangs and nostrils that flared with exhalation, Niall still firmly lodged into her backside. "We're FUCKING immortal. Now FUCK off unless you want to be dinner!" she hissed out while Niall managed a polite nod with a swirl of the hips. "UNH! And who the FUCK doesn't serve spaghetti?"

"Yes, ma'am," the woman returned meekly before spinning on her heels to buckle herself into a designated seat.

* * *

><p>"Aunt Sookie," Bran, the most gentle of Pam's children whispered while he asked for silent permission to crawl into her lap. He was the one child who ever needed to be reminded not to solely talk in his head.<p>

"Come here," Sookie smiled while she hoisted the little boy up, and checking if all the other kids were still fast asleep in their respective seats. They all continued to snore contentedly, something she was very happy about since Niall and Pam were doing unspeakable things while Eric was lowly threatening the pilots in the cockpit for daring to endanger his family with this 'turbulence nonsense'. He had already suited up in his leathers for the possibility that he needed to jump out and steady the plane while he continued to berate them for their incompetence and severe lack of flying skill vowing vocally never to fly with this particular airline again.

It had been a trying journey already and they were only on the second leg of the three plane journey to Sweden to spend Christmas in the 'windy shithole.' It was, however, the transatlantic flight that had them cooped up with the masses for hours now. Sookie tenderly caressed the blonde little locks of hair from the slightly frightened boy in her lap while continuing to monitor the pilots' state of minds. It was only moments later when the plane settled down to an accommodating glide through the air that a triumphant Eric returned walking proudly tall down the aisle despite the limited headspace.

Sookie gave an admonishing glare which he happily ignored and instead kissed her forehead while throwing her a questioning glance at the child in her lap. "The turbulence gave him a bit of a fright," she whispered when the boy had finally fallen asleep again. He gave a brief nod before taking the expansive business class seat - a compromise between Sookie and Pam after many arguments between the merits of first over economy and vice versa - beside her again, monitoring the rest of their travel companions just as she had done moments earlier.

A worried hand snaked in between her stomach and Bran's sleeping body to caress the familiar rounding with worry of its contents. Sookie emitted a small sigh, touched by his concern but feeling smothered by the continual charting of her every move nonetheless. "They're fine," she smiled. "We're all still in working order."

"Carrot?" he offered holding up a re-sealable bag with his meticulously cut matchstick pieces of the vegetable that had been grown with not a pesticide in sight. He pouted a little when she shook her head in response, not daring to bring up the need of the necessity of fruits and vegetables in her diet now that she was eating for four. While she agreed with him in part, his logic of four times an adult portion to her standard one and a half was simply overkill in her mind.

As he had just done with her, she simply kissed away the unpleasant sight of his disappointment, a coping mechanism that had emerged with the impact of little Eva's destructive hands as not everything could be so easily repaired by her brother. A smile appeared on his face to mirror hers while he caressed her cheek before fingering a lock of her hair with the knowledge that all was well again.

* * *

><p>"Mine!" Pinnie screamed while tugging at the tiny suitcase in her brother's firm hold where they effectively blocked the alleyway for all the passengers who patiently stood waiting to disembark the plane.<p>

"No, it's mine!" he growled back ferociously. The tug of war came to an abrupt end as the contents of the hand luggage, incidentally belonging to neither one of them, erupted around them littering the floor and seats.

Pam glowered at them from her distinctive height, taking in the all too familiar sight of ravage. "If I hear the word 'Mine' out of any of your yappy little mouths one more time, none of you get turned at eighteen!" she warned lowly while the two were quick to clean the mess they made with the unspoken threat in her voice.

"But, Mummy," little Spike whined with a tremble in his voice, horrified at the thought of not being exactly like his Uncle Spike.

"No buts!"

"Daddy says you're not allowed to turn us," Pinnie tattled with waggling eyebrows that she mysteriously seemed to have inherited from Eric.

"Daddy says a lot of stupid things," Pam growled while throwing him a scolding gaze. He merely shrugged innocently in response as he helped their other three children into whatever missing pieces of clothing they had wormed out of during the long flight.

"HEY!" Little Spike accused, hoping to win his mother's favour by turning on his little sister. "When did you become such a white hat?" he complained in emulation of his uncle's words who was currently holding down the fort by sitting on Fangtasia's throne. In contrast to Eric, Spike quite enjoyed inhabiting that throne, especially since the clientele had gotten wind of the romance between Eric and Sookie. Since Spike refused to feed or fuck on any of them, for he felt just like thrall it was too easy and therefore failed to pique his interest, the crowd came in night upon night in the hope of being _his _girl in a white dress that would steal his heart away. Incidentally it was a boy in a white dress.

"Sit!" Pam commanded when she put the two bickering children side by side in one of the seats and with her super-speed picked up all the spilled contents before allowing a rare apologetic smile to grace her face towards the line of eagerly waiting passengers who were becoming more and more impatient by the blockage for which she quickly stepped aside.

"Mummy, Spikey pinched me!"

"Did not! An' stop calling me Spikey, I'm not a dog!"

"Did so! SPIKEY!"

"Nah-ah!"

"OW!"

"Do you want Mummy's fangs to come out?" Pam warned lowly while she watched the whites of their eyes expand before they burst into laughter.

"And do wha'?" Little Spike chortled.

"Bite us?" Pinnie chimed in, gasping for air between her giggles. "As if you would!"

Pam merely rolled her eyes, unwilling to acknowledge that particular truth while she gestured for the waiting line of people to go on their merry way with a flash of fangs that luckily still had some impact on the unaware.

"Are we in Sveeden yet?" Eva questioned her two cousins from her perched position in the seat in front of them where she rested her head on Eric's shoulder.

_"Sverige," _he emphasised in correction, reminding them all of the Swedish lessons he had drilled into them for the month since the plans for this family holiday had been formed. The kids did as ever and simply ignored the authoritarian figure with another petulant roll of their eyes, taught to them by Pam, whose lessons in contrast had a surprising staying power.

_"_Oh," she yawned when Pinnie and little Spike shook their heads indicating they'd only made it as far as France. Her eyelids fell heavy again to continue to snore into her father's neck.

"Your children are adorable," a woman complimented Pam when she passed by on her way to the exit.

The vampiress cocked a brow staring down the woman as if she were mad. "You've got to be kidding right?" Pam questioned while the two kids batted their lashes as if they were pure innocence themselves. With the genteel smile and the soft caress of Pinnie's cheek the woman denied every assumption of the statement. "Want to take them? I've had enough of them now."

"_Mon dieu!"_ the woman exclaimed with horror before she quickly continued her way out muttering her disapproval of their mother in her native tongue.

"See," Pam spoke pointedly to the two most petulant of her brood. "Not even crazy French ladies want you."

"Pff," Pinnie huffed before repeating the words her father spoke to her mother more often than she could count. "You know you love us."

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><p>"Niall!" Pam hissed across the aisle while he appeared lost in his guide book. "Niall!"<p>

"Yes, dear?" he finally perked up when little Spike nudged him under his mother's commanding gaze.

"Our daughter seems to have taken after the snow," she spoke with annoyance as she pointed at their little 'angel' making snow angels on the embankment beside the tarmac of the runway.

"How did she get there?" Niall asked while scratching his head, peering over Pam's body in the airline seat.

"How do you think?" she countered while smacking the puzzling hand from his hair. "Little bitch decided to teleport out at the first sight of the white powder."

"Right," he agreed befuddled before popping away to chase after their daughter.

"Damnit," Pam growled when she watched Niall indulge Pinnie in her game of hide and go seek in the fresh snow. "One through four get in line," she commanded of the remaining children left behind with her in the nearly empty cabin. "One and two you're with me, three and four go with Eric."

The four boys nodded meekly in their still belted seats recognising their mother in her all too serious mode. "What about Pinnie?" Bran asked with worry for his little sister.

"They'll find us eventually," Pam sighed when lifting the boy in her arms, kissing the crown of soft hair gently as he snuggled into one side of her body while her other hand held onto Little Spike pulling him protectively into her other side.

"Mummy, our bags," the little boy tugging on her arm pointed out.

"Right," she spoke with realisation before catching the eye of an innocent passenger. "You, Human, carry our bags."

"Yes Human!" Little Spike hissed between his blunt teeth as if he sported the same impressive incisors as his mother, incidentally not two days ago they had fallen out with an encouraging twist of his sister's fingers which had him convinced his true fangs would grow in any day now.

"What did I say about calling people Human?" Pam admonished with a light pat to the back of his head.

"But, Mummy!" he protested at the hypocrisy, his mother, however; stopped listening long ago while dragging him off the plane to join Eric and Sookie at the baggage claim area.

"Should I zap them Momma?" Eva asked Sookie impatiently as they watched Eric chase after Sprig and Tack, who even with his supernatural vampire speed had the Viking panting after them with little result, while they continued to run over the conveyor belts in the opposite direction, jumping over luggage and suitcases as if it were an obstacle course.

"I think your Pappa can manage," her mother answered just before Eric successfully scooped both boys back in his grasp while cursing profusely in Swedish, which for once caught the attention of all those around him causing Eric to nervously apologise with two flailing little boys in his arms.

"So," Pam noted dryly with a single cocked brow as Sookie nervously looked on how to fetch their first pieces of luggage that were appearing on the luggage carousel, the weight and tire of the long journey that still didn't seem to end wearing her down, while the children had more energy than any of the adults could keep up with.

"Fine," Sookie huffed in defeat. "It was an awful idea to book a commercial flight."

"What are you saying dear Sookie?" Pam grinned triumphantly when Niall and Pinnie finally joined them, dripping wet with snow only to be met by her scornful gaze at the sight.

"You were right," Sookie grumbled, particularly agitated with that admission. "Book the damn private jet for when we go home."

* * *

><p>"This is the windy shithole?" Sookie whispered with wonder when she saw the large structure appear in the distance as their SUV crawled over the virgin snow to close the last leg of their long and tiresome journey.<p>

"You don't like it?" Eric asked with worry reaching for her hand across the mid-console.

"No," she hastily answered. "I mean it's beautiful, but when Pam said windy shithole..."

"This isn't what you imagined," he sighed. "Let me show you around."

Sookie didn't hesitate to get out of the car before checking on the three sleeping children in the back seat to follow Eric in.

"You didn't just have this built when I surprised you with this trip, did you?" she asked nervously reminding him of this gift she had arranged with Pam as her Thanksgiving anniversary present to him, this holiday where he could proudly show his children where he had grown up.

"No," he chuckled when taking her gloved hand in his. "It's been like this for a couple of years."

"Why does Pam call it the windy shithole then?" she asked upon entering the light and spacious wooden home, knocking the snow off her boots before entering.

"She's never been a fan of contemporary homes," Eric shrugged before pulling her in for a kiss with the realisation that this would most likely be a rare moment of solitude and there would be no little waggling tongues proclaiming them as 'gross' for such displays of affection. "Thank you älskling, it's good to be home."

"Mmmm, it feels like home, me and you under the stars," she murmured back against his lips when they momentarily glanced up to the impressive night sky through the window over the hall. She took a longer glance around the living room while still in his encompassing embrace, her head resting against his chest, noticing the small things she was sure he had placed recently; the soft cushions in her favoured colours, the added safety features for the children by the stairs and a brand new kitchen. She smiled up at him through tired lashes, thankful that they made it so far without too much issue. A soft kiss was placed against the bottom of his chin before she thoughtfully declared, "It is home."

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><p><strong>AN: Part two will be up tomorrow, I hope you all enjoyed getting reaquainted with the kids again... love to hear thoughts as always and a Merry Christmas Eve to all that celebrate :)**

**Special thanks to MsBuffy my editor extraordinaire and Charity for talking me off a ledge ;)**


	2. Part 2 - Santa

- Part II - Santa

"I told you to turn left, but no, do you listen? Satan forbid you ask someone for directions!" Pam shrieked with exasperation when they and their minivan finally arrived an hour later in which time Sookie and Eric had managed to successfully tuck in the children they had in their care and snuggle up by the fire.

"Did we interrupt something?" Niall asked, not so innocently of the couple in mid make-out before the four remaining kids bound and attacked Sookie and Eric with the pent up energy of being stuck in the car with two bickering parents.

"Where's Eva?" Pinnie demanded while trying to suppress a yawn and simultaneously trying to climb Mount Eric who was sprawled on the floor with Sookie. Her three, equally tired but petulantly denying of that fact, brothers followed in quick pursuit as her Sherpas to climb Eric's tall frame while he tried to stand up.

"In bed, fast asleep!" Eric grinned while holding the clambering little girl up high to the pine ceiling. "Where you all belong too!"

"Noooo!" they all screamed from their latched position to one part or another of Eric's body, two were currently wrapped around a leg each while the third boy hung onto his waist. With wide and uncharacteristically clumsy steps he hurried his way to the staircase before they dared let go, flying up to the children's bedrooms.

"Not nice," Pinnie pouted after he had wrestled her and the boys into their respective bunk beds.

"Night, night," he grinned before kissing away the set frown on her face.

"Night, Uncle Ewic," she yawned before falling to a deep sleep seconds later.

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><p>"Honestly Pamela, it's like I'm telling you to behave more than Viggo and Eva," Eric admonished as he swatted her hands away from the berries she was messing with on the plate, arranging them into the shape of a rather large phallus.<p>

"Whatever, Mr. Mom," she said with a roll of her eyes from her perched seat at the kitchen island. "Sorry, I'm not perfect like your _other _children."

Eric ignored the snide comment as his eyes fell to the infantile handiwork before him. "You know Viggo doesn't like his food touching each other on the plates," he said quite seriously while arranging the berries back into their neat little piles with a crisp white border of porcelain in between.

"You should tell him to get the fuck over it," Pam informed pointedly with a signature attitude that wreaked havoc with the other moms at preschool who insisted their children suffered all kinds of intolerances; wheat, gluten, dairy and the likes before Pam would stuff said food containing item into the child's mouth with an 'I told you so' look. The only time it hadn't gone in her favour was the child with a peanut allergy, so she had been loathed to admit that was actually a genuine one. Though plunging that epi-pen into the child's soft flesh with force had been quite fun to the vampiress. "The world isn't going to baby him like you do."

"Pamela!" Eric growled becoming agitated with their usual verbal sprawl on respective parenting techniques. In his opinion she was too hard and uncaring, where he was too soft and indulging. Thankfully Niall and Sookie tempered the extremes to a middle ground.

"Pancakes are burning," she grinned pointing at the black smoke emerging under the hob.

"FUCK!" he growled out, seconds before the fire alarms started to go off.

"I'm on it," Pam announced with a lethargic note to his pleading expression while he tried to smother the source of the smoke under the sink. She hovered up to take out the batteries from the infernal noise maker but by the telling sound of thumping little feet above, the damage had already been done.

"Careful on those stairs," Eric yelled up with worry, which was completely ignored by all the owner's sets of impatient feet causing ruckus at the top of the stairs with a measured amount of shouting and shoving. "I said be careful!" he repeated with horror at the sight of the little ones elbowing each other to get down the quickest. His heart didn't beat but he felt the sensation of it stopping nonetheless as the smallest child, Pinnie, began to tumble down the stairs with the violence that ensued. Within a second, an excruciatingly long second by his account, she popped out of the melee to safely land in Eric's arms.

"Morning, Uncle Ewic," she spoke shyly with a good batting of her impossibly long eyelashes as his erratic state settled to find her completely unharmed while the rest dribbled and bounced into the large living area one by one.

"How the? Who opened the stair gate?" he demanded, the answer of which came to him from Little Spike who sauntered down last at a leisurely pace twirling a Philips head screwdriver in his hand.

"Gonna have ta try harder to keep us out next time, mate," Little Spike grinned while placing the tool in Eric's demanding hand.

"Should have known it was you," Eric grumbled at the little delinquent while tucking the screwdriver in his back pocket. "Off you go," he commanded directing both children to the designated play area that was being overtaken by the noisy bunch.

"Got a fag?" Little Spike asked in imitation of his idolised namesake.

"Git!" Sookie admonished as she emerged from their shared bedroom with tired eyes. "The nerve of that boy."

"Morning," Eric whispered before sneaking in a stealthy kiss.

"Morning," she smiled back until they were interrupted by Viggo tugging at his father's pant legs.

"Can I help?"

"Of course son," Eric answered cheerfully before fetching a chair to set up by the stove to follow their normal Sunday morning routine of cooking pancakes together. It had been Sookie's suggestion in the hope that through learning to prepare a meal it would make his rigid eating habits decrease with time and, in the process Viggo often used his faery magic to restore some of Eric's inevitable mishaps in the kitchen.

His eyebrows furrowed a little when placed on the chair. "I can't fix that," Viggo said matter-of-factually while pointing at the blackened and wet pancakes in the sink before his father emitted a tired sigh.

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><p>All but Eric's cheeks were red and ruddy from the cold while the children glided down the hillside tumbling and falling more often than not into the soft snow between bouts of giggles while Eric hastily tried to tie their scarves just that little bit tighter, set their hats back in place and wipe their runny noses while they wiggled in his hold.<p>

Sookie had reluctantly taken a seat on the large family sleigh that stood stationary after falling off one of the children's sleds on her first glide down the low hill. Eric's overprotective instincts had soared at the sight of her pregnant body tumbling with Eva to the side of the hill giving cause to a heated discussion till their little girl's hands sparkled tauntingly, ceasing all further arguments.

"Uncle Ewic?" Bran asked from his perched position on the farm horse that pulled the sleigh around the property, his little hand pointing towards some footsteps in the snow. "Whose are those?"

"The Tomte in the barn," he replied without much thought while keeping the child unnecessarily steady in the saddle. "He lives there."

"Is he the baby Jesus, Momma?" Eva asked from her snuggled position against her mother's stomach hoping to 'hear' her future siblings inside.

"I don't think so sweetie," Sookie answered while wrapping the warm woollen blanket tighter around them.

"Are you cold?" Eric demanded with worry. "If you're cold we're going inside. KIDS! We're going inside."

"ERIC! Stop! Continue to play!" Sookie yelled while they simply looked on, waiting patiently to see who would win this round. Little Spike sadly missed his namesake to place his usual bet of gummy bears with. "Don't listen to him!"

"Are you, or are you not cold?" he demanded in a tone that would otherwise put the chill in her.

"Eva honey? Are you cold?" Sookie asked figuring he'd sooner believe his daughter than her, despite the revealing bond between them.

"No," she whispered shyly. "Is nice an' toasty."

Sookie raised her brow, daring him to force an end to the fun the children were having before he grumbled a defeated 'carry on'.

"You pwomise Santa knows we're here and not home?"

"Yes," Pam replied stoically, having become far too bored to be annoyed anymore with hearing that particular question come from tiny lips.

"But how does he know?"

"He just does," she answered with a roll of her eyes. "He just doesn't know where this little helper hid the credit card receipts."

"What?"

"Never mind, go to sleep," she quickly distracted before placing a soft kiss to a forehead. Adding warning to the sight of more questions orbiting in tiny eyes, "Don't make me glamour you."

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><p>"Go to your own bed, Spike," Pinnie complained as he wriggled himself in the warm channel between his sister and his cousin who had soon exchanged their separate beds for one upon arrival.<p>

"Lemme," he whined with a pout. "They all snore."

"So do you," she whispered with a hiss, not wanting to wake up Eva.

"Do not!" he yelled, thwarting Pinnie's previous efforts and causing the darkened room to instantly light up with Eva's destructive light and the two little children beside her to grab onto the hairs on their head defensively.

"You should be nicer to your sister!" an unknown voice spoke with warning. Eva's light show was subsequently forgotten as the three little ones screamed their lungs out in fright.

"QUIET!" the little man with a large unkempt grey beard and red felt hat bellowed.

"Meanie!" Eva cried, discharging the current building up in her hands to his beard and knocking him to the floor in the process.

"EVA!" Pinnie gasped as singed hair scented the air. "You killed Santa!"

Little Spike's head finally dared reveal itself from its hiding place under the covers to crawl across the bed before peering over the edge to take in the still form on the floor.

"Get Vigí," Eva whimpered between fat tears. "He'll fix him. Please let him fix him."

"Bugger that!" her cousin said excitedly with the prospect of the surely giant haul destined for the children he was to visit after them. "More presents for us!"

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><p><strong>AN: I hope you all liked! More tomorrow! Thanks for coming along on this ride again with all the favourites and follows. I forgot to mention there are pictures for the 'windy shithole up on the blog'. I have put up a link to the page on my profile page. Special thanks to MsBuffy for editing and Charity for the best Secret Santa gift ever :) Joy to the world and all that stuff...**


	3. Part 3 - Tomte

Eric was the first to fly in the door pulling the distraught Eva into his arms while she continued to cry and whisper apologies into his chest.

"All is well, min kära flicka," he soothed while rubbing her quivering back with his large hand in concentric movements.

"I killed Santa," she snivelled as her impossibly blue eyes found his.

An unintended chortle came from his throat when Eric glanced over at the body on the floor. "That's not Santa, kära," he assured with a kiss to her forehead. "And he's still alive and kicking, sort of."

"You're not mad?" she whispered when the attic room started to become crowded with curious glances from those who had flocked to the room with the noises of consternation.

"I am," came the disgruntled voice from the floor while he set his hat to right. "My beard is gone."

"Behave," Eric growled lowly. "Don't make me call your sister on you!"

The little man held his hands up in the air as a sign of defeat. "Don't go crazy now," he pleaded with a wobble to his gruff voice.

"Who's your sister?" Pinnie asked with genuine curiosity as he tried to set his felt hat straight.

"You may know her as Dr Ludwig," he answered with a strangled cough while pulling nervously at his collar.

"Oh," Pinnie exhaled with wide eyes before agreeing, "She's scawy."

"Eric, who is this?" Sookie questioned with an unnerved Viggo and Bran on either side of her.

"It's Nils," Pam responded instead, walking with a surreptitious stride towards the gnome-like creature that stood no taller than three feet where they continued to stare at each other as if they stood toe to toe.

"How ya doing, toots?" he greeted.

"I've been better," she noted dryly. At his inquiring glance she continued, "Life's a lot easier when the rugrats get a proper night's sleep."

"I see," he noted while glancing at the tired faces. "Mr. Sticky Fingers over there yours then?" Nils questioned with a glance to Little Spike who was stealthily peering into the jute bag he had carried inside and soon threatened to be swallowed by.

"Unfortunately," she replied while pulling out the squirming little boy who complained loudly to that action. "Or not," she amended, changing tactics with a kiss to his head while he desperately tried to move away from her lips' further intents.

"Mummy, you're embarassin' me in fron' of Santa," he protested trying to release himself from her hold, only causing her to grin with glee that her changed strategy had achieved the intended effect.

"Santa!" Nils fumed, colouring him the same red as his clothing. "Don't you dare compare me to that HACK!"

Little Spike instantly stopped fighting his mother's hold and instead snuggled into the security it brought. "Not Santa," he whispered apologetically into the cool satin of his mother's pyjamas.

"Are you the Tomte from the barn?" Bran asked shyly, padding forward with his hand firmly attached to Sookie who followed with a trailing Viggo.

"Very astute, little one," the Tomte confirmed before pulling a small, wrapped, hand-carved wooden horse from his bag. "You like the animals of the barn, I believe." Bran nodded eagerly before looking up to his mother for permission to open it.

"You can put it under the tree with the rest of them," she informed, mostly to Nils but Bran diligently followed her instructions and followed his father's offered hand down the stairs.

"I'm sorry about your beard, Mr. Nils," Eva spoke softly from the comfort of Eric's arms.

With a curious glance he hopped onto the bed to gaze at the little one tucked in her father's embrace recognising the fine features from a long time ago. "Niðsi," he whispered reverently in Old Norse to Eric, distinguishing her as kin with the word for tiny relative. "She looks just like your mother. A true beauty."

Eric nodded proudly at the compliment finding no words to counter the statement while beckoning Sookie and their son to his side. "And I see you found another for yourself," he grinned with an outreached hand towards Sookie.

"This is my Sookie," Eric offered proudly, placing a gentle kiss to the swell of her fertile stomach before pulling Viggo on the bed beside him. "And this is Viggo, Eva's brother."

"They certainly are yours," he grinned with approval. "This one looks just like you at that age."

"You're vewy old," Pinnie stated rather than asked, not an unusual occurrence as her intuition was known to reveal things she wasn't necessarily capable of understanding or knowing, a gift she shared with her grandmother Emer.

"As old as this place, as long as there were people here," he acknowledged. "I take care of me and mine on this land and will continue to do so as long as the blood of my line continues on. I knew your father here when he was just a wee sprout like you all and he still went by Eiríkr."

"What was daddy like?" Eva asked losing the shyness her embarrassment had caused, the sleeves of her pyjama wiping away the tears that had fallen.

"Always hanging on his mother's skirts like that one," he said pointing to Viggo who looked very proud to be just like his much admired dad. "Used to drive his father mad always seeking the females for companionship…"

Eric coughed pointedly with pleading eyes not to elaborate further. Nils, however, completely ignored him as he continued his narration, "Always scared of the dark that one, made his mother sit with him till he fell asleep."

"Pussy," Pinnie giggled.

"You catch on quick," the little Tomte smiled before putting a finger to the tip of Pinnie's nose causing her to giggle even more. "Or you know him very well."

"Both," she smiled proudly before taking his now free hand. "Lemme show you our Christmas twee."

"Very well, little one," he said following her with the large bag in hand as the rest of the remaining family followed the odd couple down. "Mind your step."

"You talk like Uncle Ewic," she said with a roll of her eyes.

"You sound like your mother," he noted, as she indeed carried the same monotonous drawl in her ordinary speech.

"Pinnie likes Mummy," she answered slightly confused with the literal insinuation.

"Don't we all," Nils grinned as he encouraged the kids to help him empty the contents of his overflowing bag to place among the rest underneath the pine tree.

"Pamela, did you and-," Niall whispered lowly gesturing towards the small creature.

"Yes," Pam answered plainly while casting a lascivious wink to the Tomte who tossed her a kiss through the air with a heated look. "And so much more than that."

Niall spluttered momentarily, flummoxed at what to do with a former paramour in such close proximity. "Surely not?" the Prince of the Fae begged hoping he had taken a misinterpretation of her words.

"What?" she shrugged. "It's not like there's much entertainment here in the windy shithole. Eric didn't even get a TV here till 1992. We have fun."

"Anytime," Nils grinned, their whispered conversation not going unnoticed by him. "You know where to find me, toots."

"I'll keep it in mind," she purred in return.

"Pamela!"

"What?" she smirked with great triumph dancing in her eyes. "What is it you always say…"

"You know you love me," he grumbled.

"Indeed I do," she beamed back before planting a solid kiss to his mouth causing a chorus of 'EEEW!' to ensue.

* * *

><p>"So this is it," Nils spoke seriously, holding the wooden box in his hands that Eric had handed to him after the kids were all tucked into bed again with the promise they could play with the Tomte in the morning. "Back where it belongs."<p>

Eric simply nodded, preparing himself to see the item that meant so much to them both but he had not dared to gaze upon since having it in his possession again.

"You do not wish to keep it with you?" the Tomte asked when Sookie came to sit beside Eric after handing Nils a warm drink laced with his preferred liquor, or rather his preferred liquor laced with a warm drink. "It was meant for you."

"What is it?" Sookie questioned as both men remained decidedly silent to which Nils opened the lid to reveal the crown that once ruled the territory they now owned a small piece of through a land deed. Her hand twined with his as she felt the pang of pain travel through their shared bond.

"You worked so hard for this," Nils offered trying to hand the box back. "I failed us all that night, I should have kept those wolves away from the goats."

"It took me taking back this crown to understand how powerless we all stood," Eric informed before turning his gaze on Sookie. "It took her to make it happen, even when I didn't handle it the best way."

"The men of our clan have never quite come to understand the nuances of women," the Tomte chuckled. "I am not surprised by that in the least."

"It was just a trick of my blood," Sookie said in an effort to downplay her importance.

"No," Eric denied sternly gazing intently into her eyes. "A trick with faery blood took down Russell momentarily but it never amended the damage caused by him. I think it's why I couldn't let him die the true death when all sense told me it should. The moment I knew you were truly mine, that we were to be parents. That was the moment where I felt what was stolen was returned to me."

"Fjölskylda," Nils agreed wholeheartedly after experiencing the same sense of achievement upon seeing the blood of his line thrive once more.

"Family," Eric translated for her to which she could only smile proudly to her integral part as a mother to his children. "A tethered branch that seemed only tainted by death and frozen in time grew with new life, metal is ancient but blood is eternal," he explained while his hand lingered over the swell of her stomach that announced more of that to come.

"Eric," she whimpered with tears escaping the corners of her eyes. He kissed them away softly before they both felt the dip on the sofa beside them.

"My Queen," Nils said humbly before placing the matching band of metal to Ulfrick's crown upon her head. "You have returned life to Eric and these barren lands. Welcome to the family."

Another small box fell into her hand, not wooden but one of soft velvet, placed there by the hand of her vampire. "Merry Christmas," he whispered into the shell of her ear before another cool band of ancient metal slipped over her finger.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Think of that ring what you will I'm not commenting on what it really is either way ;) **

**I borrowed from Scandinavian lore with the Tomte. My mother used to read me Astrid Lindgren's (of Pippi Longstocking fame) 'The Tomte' around Christmas time when I was a lil' bit myself and we always had a craft like puppet of him in the house around the holidays. With the more intricate description I found on Wikipedia it reminded me a little of Dr Ludwig thus this story was born that became a true homecoming for Eric with his new family and gave meaning to why Eric was so fond of the 'windy shithole'.**

**Literally copied and pasted from Wikipedia:**

_A tomte, nisse or tomtenisse (Sweden) (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈtɔ̀mːtɛ]), nisse (Norway and Denmark) (Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈnìsːɛ] or Danish pronunciation: [ˈnesə]) or tonttu (Finland) is a mythological creature from Scandinavian folklore typically associated with the winter solstice and the Christmas season. It is generally no taller than three feet, has a long white beard and wears red or other colorful clothes.[1] It is known as a gift bearer[2] and is considered one of the Swedish and Norwegian versions of Santa Claus, although not the same thing._

_The Swedish name tomte is indeed derived from the term for a place of residence and area of influence: the house lot or tomt. Nisse is a common name in Norwegian, Danish and the Scanian dialect in southernmost Sweden; as a nickname for Nils, and its usage in folklore comes from expressions such as Nisse god dräng ("Nisse good lad", cf. Robin Goodfellow). Other names are tuftekall, tomtegubbe or haugebonde ("mound farmer"), all names connecting the being to the origins of the farm (the building ground), or a burial mound. The term nisse might also be influenced by Norse niðsi, believe to mean "tiny relative", and the Germanic water-sprite nixie._

**I hope you all enjoyed your Christmases and/or other celebrations and this little story! Many thanks for jumping on with the giant family again...****Thoughts welcome as always :)**

**Special thanks to MsBuffy and her editing skills on this.**


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